How I Accidentally Deleted a Ton of Camera Phone Pictures, including Some Boy’s Baby Photos

Some Boy was about five months old. Someone mentioned something in passing about iPhone having a new update out, so I plugged in my iPhone and prepared for the tedious update process. It asked something about wanting to update and I clicked the button to indicate, “Heck yeah, computer, bring me up to speed!” In my new-mom blurry-eyed state, I didn’t even think to backup my camera phone pictures and whatnot. Totally clueless about my impending data loss, I waited for my phone to do its thing. I returned awhile later to find that my phone had been inexplicably restored to the state it was in THREE MONTHS EARLIER! The update process had installed the newest version and then returned it to its latest saved data from my computer.

I quickly Googled the issue and found dozens of strings on forums about people having this problem with the latest iPhone update. Apparently it was some sporadic glitch in Apple’s system and long story short, all my camera phone pictures of Some Boy from about two to five months old were gone. And yes, this was RIGHT before iCloud came along and made issues like this entirely avoidable. Note: I’m totally not technical and yes, I know I should’ve backed everything up. My bad. I’m pretty dang diligent about it now, but those pictures are irreplaceable. What’s a mom to do? After the initial flash of denial (“this can’t be happening, there has to be a way to get my camera phone pictures back”), I slowly accepted that my precious baby pictures – the everyday ones of our time together, all except the ones I’d taken on our professional camera – were gone. I bawled my damn eyes out for about three minutes. And then the baby woke up and I got back to those everyday moments. Feeding him, changing him, rocking him.

I thanked God for our snap-happy friends and family who had taken picture after picture during their numerous visits, and I asked everyone to send me what they had. I pieced it all together and, well, life went on. Someone kind of put things in perspective, saying that it could be a whole lot worse: my phone and all of those photos could’ve been stolen. High-res pictures of my little guy could end up on stock photo sites or in ads on the other side of the world (similar horror stories have actually happened to families I know). God forbid.

I’m getting the new iPhone 5 soon and am doing everything I can to make sure this device – and all its data – stays safe and secure. I’ve looked into various options to protect the phone itself as well as camera phone pictures. I’m loving this program from Asurion, which covers all aspects of the phone and even helps owners track down their phones if they get lost or stolen. The complete Asurion protection package, available through most wireless carriers, provides consumers with (1) Software that protects mobile data against the growing number of cell phone/smartphone threats and helps them locate a lost or stolen phone and (2) A replacement device, usually overnight, in the event a phone is lost, damaged (even water damaged) or stolen.

Have you had any phone mishaps? How would you feel if all of your camera phone pictures disappeared?

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